1918

NEWCHWANG
^ Niu-chwang p •§£ Ying-kow
Aewchwang, in latitude 40 deg. 40 min. 38 sec. N., longitude 122 deg. 15 min. 30 sec. E,
was opened to foreign trade in May, 1864, and was for more than forty years theonly Treaty
port in Manchuria. Manchuria comprises the three Provinces of Fengtien, Kirin and
Heilungchiang, and is commonly called by the Chinese the “Tung San Sheng”or the Three-
Eastern Provinces. Newchwang is situated in the most southern of these three pro¬
vinces—Eengtien, also known as Sheng Ching—and lies about thirteen miles from the-
mouth of the Liao River, which empties into the Gulf of Liaotung, a continuation of
the Gulf of Pechili. The proper name of the port is Yingkow, and not Newchwang,.
which is situated 90 li (30 miles) further up the river. The old town of Newchwang
was designated by Treaty to be opened to trade, but the first foreigners finding Ying¬
kow more conveniently situated, and more adapted in every respect for the purposes of
trade, quietly installed themselves there and got over the difficulty by the simple
process of changing the name of Yingkow into that of Newchwang !
The country in the immediate vicinity of the port is fiat and unpicturesque in the
extreme, and the town itself has nothing in the way of attractions for the traveller.
The climate, from the foreigner’s point of view, is one of the best in China, the sum¬
mers being comparatively cool, while the winters are cold and bracing. The hottest
summer temperature rarely exceeds 85° (Fahr.), but cold blasts from the North puli'
down the “mercury” in winter months often to 10° and 15° below zero (Fahr.). _ The
river is generally frozen over for three months of the year, but navigation is practically
suspended for four months, from December to the following April. Formerly New¬
chwang was shut off from the rest of the world during winter, but the advent of rail¬
ways has changed all this. The Government Railways of North China, through their
branch line from Koupangtzu, maintain daily communication with Tientsin, Peking and
Mukden ; and the South Manchurian Railway, through its branch line from Tashih-
chiao, maintains daily communication with Dalny, Port Arthur, Mukden, Tiehling and
Kuanchengtze. At the latter place the Chinese Eastern Railway connects for Harbin
and Europe by the Trans-Siberian Railway.
The Chinese population of Yingkow is estimated at 52,000 and the foreign popula¬
tion numbers about. 3,000, a large proportion being Japanese.
The value of the trade, of the port during the year 1916 was Hk. Tls. 31,479,156 as
compared with Hk. Tls. 40,395,539 in 1915, Hk. Tls. 37.395 330 in 1914 and Hk. Tls.
50,064,454 in 1913. Until a few years back Newchwang had the monopoly of the trade of
Manchuria, but now she has powerful competitors in Harbin in the North and Dalny in
the South. In spite of the competition she is holding her own, owing partly to the
cheaper, rates on water- borne produce from the hinterland, and partly to the reluctance
of the Chinese merchants to leave an old-established business centre with all its vested
interests. The chief articles of export are agricultural prod ucts—beans, millet, maize,,
etc., and their by-products beancake, bean oil and samshu, with a fair amount of
bristles, ginseng, native medicines, wild and refuse silk and skins and furs thrown in.
Another article of export has lately arisen in Fushun coal, and the South Manchurian.
Rabway, finding the cost of laying down the coal at Newchwang is cheaper than at
18 devfloPing the export trade from Newchwang.
Ine greater part of the export trade here is with Japan and the Southern Chinese
ports, but some direct shipments of beans and beancake were made to Europe. Details,
ot a scheme for the improvement of the Upper Reaches of the Liao River and the deep¬
ening of the bar at its mouth were under consideration for over two years, and-
a preliminary Agreement—embodying regulations for the financing and operation of
the scheme—signed in July, 1911, by the Consular Body and Taotai, was for some
time afterwards the subject of negotiations between the Diplomatic Body at Peking.
and t j6. Chinese Central and Provincial Authorities. The scheme was eventually-
ratified m the course of 1914, and Conservancy works were begun in 1915 and ar&-
Proceeding.